INTRODUCTION

This tutorial is designed to walk you through the process of creating a Group in IMPLAN. The procedure begins and ends at the IMPACTS screen (Featured image).

Featured image: the IMPACTS screen

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Below is a brief discussion about the process of creating Groups in IMPLAN.

Who is this tutorial for?

This tutorial is for anybody who doesn’t know how to create a Group in IMPLAN. Groups are used to communicate important details about the regional economy in which your study's real-life impact will occur to the software and are essential in enabling it to calculate results. Follow THE STEPS herein to delve into one of the simplest (but most crucial!) tasks in helping IMPLAN's analytical capabilities remain so powerful, so accurate, and so insightful: creating Groups.

Why is this process important?

Groups play a central role in enabling IMPLAN to calculate impact results by providing the software with a mathematical context in which to use the information provided by an analyst's Events. While Events are uniquely representative of your study's real-life impact, Groups are uniquely representative of the economy in which that impact will take place. The same as with selecting Regions and creating Events, the software can't estimate the effects of a given occurrence on a regional economy without first knowing what the state or condition of that economy was prior to the occurrence. So, Groups offer IMPLAN mathematical "snapshots" of regional economies in order to provide a foundation upon which it can start doing all the tough number crunching. For this reason, you'll need to know how to create them in order to carry out your own analyses.

Do I need anything before I can do this?

At first, yes. But later, no. What we mean is, the very first time you create a Group in IMPLAN, you'll need to have already successfully selected at least one Region in IMPLAN or there won't be any preformed regional economic models in the software for you to populate your Group with. But, after selecting any Region just one time, that Region will become available for you to insert into any Group you create, and any analyses you conduct, from that point on. So, as you continue to use IMPLAN over time; conducting more and more analyses, examining more and more regional economies, and compiling an increasingly diversified collection of selected Regions; creating Groups will become easier and easier!

Will I need to do this often?

Yes. The same as with creating Events, analysts performing true impact analyses (that is, modeling the effects of any given change in production throughout a given regional economy) will need to use Groups in order for the software to calculate their study's results. However, as is explained above, creating Groups becomes easier and easier as your use of IMPLAN continues because as the number of preformed computerized models that become saved within the software grows, the collection of them which is available to you when populating your Groups does as well. Honestly, while creating Groups is just as important to the overall success of your study as selecting Regions or creating Events, it's by far the easiest of the three procedures. You'll be fine—seriously, it's a cinch.

THE STEPS

The procedure to create a Group in IMPLAN begins and ends at the IMPACTS screen (see Fig. x). The instructions below include links to other User's Guide tutorials and/or articles which may prove helpful in the vent that you encounter any roadblocks during the course of your analysis. If challenges persist, visit the ADDITIONAL RESOURCES section for a more extensive selection of supplementary content.

1. Click + Add New Group.

At the IMPACTS screen, click + Add New Group (see Fig. 1) in the Groups section.

Fig. 1

Upon doing so, a box of editable fields will appear (see Fig. 1.a). To learn about the contents of the Groups section, see Exploring the IMPACTS Screen.

Fig. 1.a

2. Name your new Group.

Inside the Groups section, click into the "Group title" field (see Fig. 2) and enter the name of your new Group.

Fig. 2

3. Select a Dollar Year.

After naming your new Group, click into the Dollar Year menu (see Fig. 3) and select a year from its dropdown list. By default, it will populate with the current year in real time.

Fig. 3

4. Select a Data Year.

After selecting a Dollar Year, click into the Data Year menu (see Fig. 4) and select a year from its dropdown list. By default, it will populate with the year of the most current IMPLAN dataset available.

Fig. 4

5. Choose a selected Region.

After selecting a Data Year, click into the Region menu (see Fig. 5) and choose a selected Region from its dropdown list. You must select a Data Yearbefore IMPLAN will allow you to choose a selected Region.

Fig. 5

Alternatively, you can bypass scrolling through the dropdown list and choose a selected Region by entering it's name directly into the search bar (see Fig. 5.a) at the top of the opened menu.

Fig. 5.a

To "scale" the contents of your Group (multiply them proportionally during the calculation of impact results), click into the "Group scaling factor" field (see Fig. 5.b) and customize it to your liking.

Fig. 5.b

Upon doing so, the scaling icon will appear blue (see Fig. 5.c) at the top of the Group.

Fig. 5.c

After choosing a selected Region, you'll have successfully created a Group!

END OF PROCEDURE

WHAT NEXT?

IMPLAN is designed to allow for economic analyses to be launched or resumed from multiple points of entry. So, you can choose to start or continue your studies from whichever stage best fits your needs. Your process doesn't have to be linear! However, if you're brand new to IMPLAN and need some guidance, or would just prefer some professional advice, we're happy to offer our suggestion about what to do next.

WHAT WOULD IMPLAN DO?

If you're performing your first impact analysis, then after creating a Group, we suggest officially running your analysis by initiating the calculation of your study's impact results by the software. This procedure occurs on the IMPACTS screen.

Feel like running your analysis is the right "next step" for your study? Great! The resources below will a.) help you continue successfully maneuvering the IMPACTS screen and b.) guide you through the process of actually running your analysis step-by-step!

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Some analysts find that altering their process to conform to a traditional workflow isn't the best choice for their study. In these instances, carry out analyses in a nontraditional order better fits their needs. Thanks to IMPLAN's unrestricted versatility, it can accommodate even the most challenging procedural demands or preferences. Below are some additional resources which may prove helpful when formulating a personalized itinerary for your study.